My son and I were in Philadelphia for a hockey tournament this weekend.  We went to Independence Hall, the American Revolution museum, toured Villanova and Penn and we accidentally drove through a neighborhood we most certainly did not mean to visit. There were houses half standing, boards on windows and one clearly had a major fire that reduced the living space to one room - which was being lived in.  I’m sure I could have purchased half the cars we saw for the cash that I...

When those of us who are over 30 were kids - we ran around the neighborhood, seldom saw our parents during the day, climbed trees, biked everywhere and generally self governed. Kids of today - mine included - spend more time inside, more time with their parents supervising (or at least in proximity), less time with peers and more time in organized activity. And none of that to mention the access to knowledge and the world on their smartphone. What does this...

40% of American adults don’t have $400 for an emergency expense if it were to happen today. That’s staggering. 10% of all groceries in America are bought on food stamps. Many have no option but to resort to credit card debt to cover bills which has 18+% interest rates. On the flip side... a 63 year old who had saved all his life; never taken vacations with his family and had a list of all the things he would do when he retired, died his...

If you are thinking about leaving your job to make 10-15% more cash - I would advise you to think very hard about it. Equity is more than cash comp: it’s your relationships, your knowledge of the politics and your realistic awareness as to how you fit in with your company. Kid home from school today - no problem. See you tomorrow. Parents in town - enjoy the day with them. Here’s a thought - in 10 years, you will make 1 more year...

Jack Bogle, the man Warren Buffett has said did more for the average investor than anyone in the world, passed away yesterday. The founder of Vanguard Group created low cost index funds that allowed investors to buy baskets of stocks with a 0.08% management fee instead of the typical 1-2% for wealth managers. A life well lived. On the subject of fees, why are commissions for residential properties so friggin’ high? I search out the house; I can easily...

I would prefer to talk about this season’s “The Bachelor” but I have been told that’s not cool. Instead - I guess we’ll talk about first times. The UK has rejected PM May’s proposal to leave the EU; the US government has been shut down for the longest ever and the Chargers still haven’t won a Super bowl. How do we cross the precipice? Bottom line. There needs to be a win-win that everyone believes in. That means communication...

Brexit is the personification of what happens when you ask a question you don’t want to know the answer to. Do you still love me? Does this shirt make me look fat? Should we leave the EU? The downside of an answer in these cases usually dramatically outweighs the utility of knowing. 59% of Britons now favor staying in the EU. Oops.

Researchers have shown that productivity drops up to 66% in open office environments because of the impact on the auditory system. Human brains are trained to decipher signals from the noise and when there are background conversations, they are almost impossible to ignore. Investing in sound masking technology can help recover some of the productivity loss (up to 46%). If you don’t like open office environments, now you have some data to back it up.

What is the risk premium that should be built into the stock market when it is only one tweet away from wild swings up or down? On the one hand - the President could capitulate with China and the market should love it - “I have signed a trade deal. Tariffs done.” And up it goes! On the other - the President could tame inflation by driving oil prices lower - “thanks for the bbls OPEC, I’m delaying Iranian sanctions” and energy gets crushed. It’s hard...

The average life expectancy of a man in North America is 80. Do you see your dad enough?